DALLAS—
Now that swine flu is declared a national emergency, area hospitals will evaluate what this means for them. The Emergency Preparedness Team for Bayor University Medical Center has decided to meet next week. They will discuss the possibility of expanding emergency services for swine flu patients. Meantime, the Director of Medical Emergency Services for the City of Dallas says no changes are necessary.Children's Medical Center is seeing fewer kids who are sick from swine flu. Four-year old Alex Madrid leaves the emergency room with a sticker, and a mask. He is sick, running a fever, but he does not have H1N1.
Madrid family friend, Esmeralda Lopez, said, "The mask is to protect ouselves , many viruses in hospitals and ER's."
President Obama's declaration of swine flu as a national emergency gives hospitals the ability to expand emergency services to speed up treatments and protect patients who don't have it.
Hospitals can bypass federal requirements, allowing them to move emergency rooms offsite to schools, community centers, or even to tents outside the hospital. The off-site ER's treat swine flu patients only.
Dr. Pepe is the Director of Medical Emergency Services for the City of Dallas, as well as the Director of Emergency Services at Parkland. Dr. Pepe said, "When we had the brunt of this 2 to 3 weeks ago, what we did: we set aside other parts of the hospital where we just had the kids with H1N1 taken care of. Now we basically have backed off in segregating different areas, I think that's working out."
Dr. Pepe says that's because the swine flu in Dallas is on the decline.
Dr. Pepe said, "This is a disease that moved through rapidly. We saw a rapid rise and a rapid decline. We are on the downside of it here locally."
The national emergency helps hospitals in cities that are now seeing a rapid rise of H1N1, but Dr. Pepe does not expect Dallas hospitals to expand swine flu emergency services anytime soon.
Dr. Pepe said, "On the other hand, I would still say we could have another movement of this thing, again, it's a new pandemic."
The declaration also lifts the bureaucratic red-tape so states can apply for help in responding to outbreaks.
The government is also making changes so hospitals and health care facilities can be reimbursement for their care.
While swine is on the decline, Dr. Pepe says Parkland is still cautious. For instance, child visitors are restricted in certain areas of the hospital. That's because it's been largely children who are catching and spreading H1N1.
